The Hunter
The Hunter is a Necromorph that makes an appearance in Dead Space. It was biologically engineered by Doctor Challus Mercer on board the [[USG Ishimura|USG Ishimura]]. It was created by inserting a piece of necrotic tissue, obtained from the flesh-like growths covering certain sections of the Ishimura, directly into the cranium of an unknown crew member.It is possible that the Hunter was originally the unwilling crewman heard in this log. In Dead Space 2, a Necromorph known as the Ubermorph has many similarities to the Hunter, and stalks Isaac throughout the last two chapters of the game. Overview The Hunter physically resembles a Slasher, possessing large blades that are attached to a pair of elongated arms. It is larger and more powerful than the standard Slasher variants and, unlike other forms of Necromorph, it is able to regenerate lost limbs in seconds, meaning that conventional dismemberment tactics only serve to temporarily incapacitate it. The Hunter first appears during Chapter 5: Lethal Devotion. Challus Mercer keeps the creature stored in a stasis tube in the Chem Lab on the Medical Deck, just outside the Cryogenics Storage Room. When Isaac enters the lab to mix the poisonous compound, Dr. Mercer awakens the creature in an attempt to kill Isaac. Isaac eventually escapes after learning of the creature's regenerative abilities. The creature stalks Isaac throughout the chapter, as he attempts to complete his objectives. Isaac finally faces it down in the Cryogenic Lab, where he manages to freeze the creature inside a cryogenic tube, supposedly taking care of the problem once and for all. However, as the game progresses, it is hinted that the creature has been thawed and is once again stalking Isaac, as Isaac hears the creature several times and even sees it once whilst in the main elevator in Chapter 7Brief glimpse of the Hunter's silhouette can be caught as the cargo elevator descends past the closed gates to the mining sub-deck for the first time.. The Hunter reappears in Chapter 10, just after Isaac collects the third navigation card. Immediately after grabbing the card, Dr. Mercer contacts the player and reveals that he has thawed the creature. Right after this transmission, the Hunter bursts out of a ceiling vent and attacks, forcing Isaac to retreat. Towards the end of the chapter, when Isaac goes to test fire the engines of the shuttle in the Executive Shuttle Hangar Bay, the Hunter once again reveals itself and attempts to kill him. To defeat it, Isaac lures it towards the back of the shuttle, uses stasis to freeze the Hunter, and test fires the engines again, completely incinerating it. Afterwards you can find a Power Node where it died. Strategies *'Use your environment to your advantage.' :Look for ways to stop or slow The Hunter. If there are points where the Hunter could get caught up on (low ceilings, doors with Node locks, barricades), use them! If there are throwable objects you can use to dismember limbs (Blades of Slashers, sawblades, etc.) or to stun it (exploding canisters, heavy objects, etc.), then use those, too! For example, in Chapter 10, after you collect the third navigation card, lure The Hunter to the room with the movable bunk beds. You can create a barricade to simply protect yourself. But note, there are a series of ceiling vents that the hunter will use if blocked, so plan your movement. *'Dismember, then Stasis.' :Cut off the limbs of the creature, most effectively done with a Line Gun and then put it under stasis once its limbs start to regenerate. This will buy you a lot of time to attempt to leave the room. *'Do what the situation requires.' :If you can exit the room immediately, do so. In some situations, you will be locked in the room with the creature until Kendra unlocks the door. That's the only time you should confront the creature. :At the end of Chapter 5, when you confront the Hunter in the Cryogenics room, lure him to the end of the room with the stasis recharge. Make it follow you into the middle section, then take out its legs and / or stasis it, and run into the small room at the other end, which will be unlocked. Make sure the Hunter is in the middle section, then use the holographic panel to freeze it. *'Do not waste your ammo.' :The Hunter does regenerate, and under pressure you may not think about that. Use your ammo efficiently by removing its arms to avoid its heavily damaging attacks; slice off its legs to knock him onto the ground and slow him down. *'The Hunter is relatively slow.' :Knocking out its legs to slow it further is a great tactic. Save your stasis ability for after you've taken down a few of its limbs. Slowing down its regeneration process is much more effective than to make it plod towards you at a slower rate. *'Use Your Stasis.' :Keep a Stasis Pack or two handy when in chapters encountering the Hunter. A quick way to escape is to take off most limbs (i.e. leg + arm) while it enters its regeneration stage. Freeze it and run! This is also useful in situations when he needs to be in a certain place. If you're using the Stasis Energy Refill cheat you don't have to buy any Stasis packs. *'Avoid, Avoid, Avoid.' :When other enemies are near while confronting the Hunter, it's a relatively good idea to eradicate them instead of focusing on the major threat. Keep moving, take out a limb or two, and freeze it, then attack the remaining enemies and repeat if necessary. This strategy is wonderful for those of you who "collect" items. *'Lace up your running shoes!' :If all else fails, you can conserve ammunition and health by simply avoiding the confrontation (most of the time) when things just seem too dark to handle! Remember, this is a "survival-horror" title. *'Selective Dismemberment' :If you're low on Stasis energy and Kinesis isn't effective enough, you can slow it down by blowing off its legs (or one leg to save ammo). Don't forget to watch out for its support. *'Snub it' :While it is the "boss" of the level, the Hunter's primary threat is being a bullet sponge. If there is enough room, ignore it, kill any other Necromorphs and outrun it until you're in a position to defeat it. Trivia *There is a glitch in Chapter 10 in the room where you have to wait for Kendra to open the door. If you see the Hunter coming through the door into that room, if you shoot it with the Force Gun and the door closes, the Hunter will be unable to enter the room. It will still reappear later in the Chapter. *Although there is no proof that more than one Hunter may exist, the fact that Mercer had a second body in a pod next to the Hunter suggests that an experiment might have been under way or that it might have failed. As such, it is impossible to say with utmost certainty that the Hunter encountered in Chapter 10 is the same as in Chapter 5, but it is likely so, especially since he says "my creation is free, reborn in the fierce heat of life itself" before it attacks, probably indicating that he defrosted it. *It is unknown how Mercer avoids being slain by his own creation when seemingly guiding it through the ship, although the same could be said of how Mercer possibly avoids death at the hand of all the other Necromorphs on the ship. Another reason is that Mercer might have been affected by the the Marker's dementia signal, and Necromorphs don't attack people who are affected by the Marker's influence. Although, he is always behind some sort of barricade (glass, walls, etc) when the player encounters the Hunter, suggesting that he makes sure the player is in a specific area when the Hunter appears and transports it in a pod throughout the ship, or the hunter may have enough humanity left to be 'loyal' to his creator. The Medical Deck's Chem Lab and the Crew Deck's Sleeper Deck 3 are notable examples of how the Hunter attacks Isaac. In both cases, Isaac must venture into an isolated place with only one route of escape to retrieve an item, making it a good place for the Hunter to ambush him. *The Hunter and the Slasher have identical animations when standing up, which can be observed after blasting both with the Force Gun at the same time. **Also, the Hunter's severed arms can be used as weapons like the basic Slasher's. *In the Dead Space Dismemberment Demo, if Isaac has the Pulse Rifle equipped, then during the cutscene when the Hunter is supposed to kill Isaac, if the player has their gun drawn, they can stop the Hunter from killing Isaac. However, even though Isaac will reload when he needs to, he will stay in place, no matter what you do, and when your gun is out of ammo, you can't switch, and you'll be stuck like that until the Hunter kills you. *The Hunter's regenerative abilities are likely an homage to "The Thing". *It is entirely possible that the Hunter is Brant Harris, as Dr. Mercer had expressed interest in studying him to learn more about the Necromorphs. *The Hunter can actually be seen in Chapter 7, very briefly, when going down the elevator from the second floor to the final, if you look in C deck as the elevator passes it, you will see the Hunter sharpening its blades, and quietly roaring. *In Chapter 5, when you're in the Freezer Room after you freeze the Hunter, if you walk to the right Control Room door, you can see other Necromorphs frozen in ice. *At the start of Chapter 8, when going down a hallway, the Hunter can be heard growling and sharpening it's blades. *It is unknown where the Hunter gets the biomass to regenerate with, because the amount of energy and sheer amount of dead flesh it takes to regenerate would be enormous. *Considering the fact the Corruption tissue was inserted directly into the cranium of a live host, it is unknown whether or not if it retains consciousness of its former human-self, but is still being controlled telepathically by the Hive Mind and influenced by its instincts. * The Ubermorph - a Necromorph similar to the Hunter - makes an appearance near the finale of Dead Space 2 after the "eye poke" machine. Its appearance has drastically altered, forgoing the appearance of rotten, decaying flesh to something more refined like the Alien from H.R Giger. Despite this, it moves just the same, and will regenerate its limbs after they are severed. Unlike its Dead Space counterpart, the Ubermorph cannot be killed without the use of a glitch, and must be outrun until the end of the game. *In Dead Space 2, when you enter the USG Ishimura, the tube the Hunter was in and the tube next to it is empty; most likely due to the cleanup operation. *The Hunter can be seen opening its eyes slowly when first meeting Dr Mercer. Death Scenes thumb|left|300px|Isaac's Hunter Death Sequence. *When Isaac is at critical health (yellow or lower), the Hunter will sink both of his blades through his torso, lift him up, then violently stab him several times. The Hunter then slices off his legs and left arm, and lowers Isaac. Isaac struggles to hold up his right arm, almost as if pleading to the Hunter. It then cuts his head off and finally slices him in half. *If Isaac is slashed with the Hunter's blade while he has moderately low health, whatever part of him is hit will be torn off as he dies. Gallery File:The hunter.jpg|Isaac confronting the Hunter File:Hunter_death.jpg|The Hunter is finally killed by the intense heat from the shuttle engines test firing File:hunter.png|Hunter game modelKyle Winkelman's Game Model File:MD-ChemicalResearchLabHunterDormant.png|Dormant Hunter Dead Space hunter.jpg|The Hunter looking at the half dismemberd Isaac. Appearances *''Dead Space'' • Chapter 5: Lethal Devotion (First appearance) • Chapter 10: End of Days Notes Sources See also *Slasher *Dr. Mercer Hunter